ADL issue to go before selectmen Monday

By Bryan Mahoney/Staff Writer
GateHouse News Service
New! Fri Sep 21, 2007, 11:28 AM EDT

Lexington –

Lexington’s No Place for Hate Committee is expected to make a report
to the Board of Selectmen Monday after being asked by Armenian
residents to break ties with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

Though no decision was made by the No Place for Hate Committee Friday,
some members said they would lean toward discontinuing that
affiliation while others were reluctant to do so without further
investigating the ramifications of that decision.

"Being sponsored by the ADL is inconsistent with your mission to
combat bias and hate," said resident Laura Boghosian as she read from
a statement. "While we applaud the efforts of those within the ADL
working to overturn a despicable policy, we believe it is an internal
matter for that body. Our town should not be involved in the internal
politics of outside groups."

Until Friday, the No Place for Hate Committee had not formally
addressed the ADL’s partial acknowledgement of the Armenian genocide
by the Ottoman Turks in the World War I era, or the ADL’s stance on a
resolution in Congress to designate the genocide as such. Several
surrounding communities have either suspended or severed their ties
with the ADL’s No Place for Hate program since ADL regional director
Andrew Tarsay was fired for acknowledging the massacre as genocide. He
was later reinstated by national ADL director Abraham Foxman.

Hank Manz, the Board of Selectmen liaison to the committee, said the
Armenian group would be first up during the public comment of Monday’s
selectmen’s meeting. He said the board would first like to hear from
the No Place for Hate Committee on its meeting and what will be its
next steps.

Committee member David Horton felt this group should give a
recommendation whether it should remain active with the ADL or cut its
ties. The Board of Selectmen gave the official approval for the No
Place for Hate committee in 1990.
"I’m tilting toward leaving ADL," Horton said.

No Place for Hate chairman Jill Smilow, who has been with the group
since its inception, has said there is no "death grip" from the
national ADL on the issue. As such, No Place for Hate can still carry
on its human-rights mission without severing a relationship that has
many benefits, she said.

Olga Guttag, also a member of No Place for Hate, had misgivings about
a local organization’s affiliation with any national one – not just
the ADL – if it means a local group must adopt national positions.

"Local is local. We don’t want to inherit anybody’s agenda," she said.

The Board of Selectmen meets Monday, Sept. 24 in the Selectmen’s
meeting room at Town Hall, 1625 Massachusetts Ave.

Source: 64787